He stalled for time by pretending ignorance. And she fell for his line by going into great detail about the wedding video of his brother’s wedding. He thought about the last week while she talked. When Rimi had brought the ex up to them the first thing his mate had done was to kick the man in the balls, twice. And then laugh at his screams. Mocking him for squealing like a girl. Then she had gone into great detail about the deaths of her parents, the little slave boy and the young girl who brought them food. Then she had told him about the hidden bank account he could have had access to. Then she had gone into greater detail about the consequences of a female shifter getting married before her twenty-first birthday. She explained how he would have married a shifter but turned her into someone fully human. She told him their children would have been completely human. She mocked him for his plans to destroy her and take her homes. Then she kicked him in the balls again as she described how long she would live now that she had decided to stay a shifter. She told him of her plans and dreams and how short his life span would be. She let him know he had minutes left to live and those minutes were at her discretion. She described the chaos he had brought into her life. Before telling him how much she would enjoy watching him suffer at the hands of her future mate. Then she kicked him in the balls again. Tied up he couldn’t very well protect that area and Samson had almost winced each time the foot struck home. Every time she emphasized a point she did so with a foot to the balls. Samson made a mental note to watch her feet if they ever got into an argument and keep the ball protected, always. By the time she was done the young man had been a sobbing quivering mess.
In the beginning he had begged for forgiveness, then he had begged for mercy, by the time Samson was done with him he had begged for death. It took the man two days to die. Two days of watching his mate rail at the man for all he had taken from her. Two days of watching her mock him for all he could have had. In the end, when he had finally let the man die his mate had sobbed in his arms for hours. His brother and Gabby had kept the kids for them while they took care of quieting Nicole’s demon. He knew, and she knew, the death wouldn’t bring her parents back, but she had lived through three days of torture with her brother and sister and had a lifetime of being an orphan ahead of them. She had wanted the man to suffer and Samson made sure she got her wish. Now though it was time to start a new chapter in their lives and he was eager to start.
He heard the car pull up and he got up in expectation. When Chris and Sammy came running in the house he saw Nicole’s eyebrows go up. “Wow, you two look all dressed up. Where did Grammy take you this time?”
The children ran to her and sat down on each side of her just like they rehearsed. He walked over to the three and getting down on one knee he took her left hand in his. “When I first felt you I knew with every fiber of my being the other half of my soul was somewhere close. It was all I could do not to change into my wolf and let him lead me to you. I sat in that control room and wondered if you were passing through the area and how long it would take me to get out of my duties and track you down. I started playing conversations in my head of how I would convince you to be mine. I thought about long moonlight walks and picnics under the stars. I watched the monitor of the compound with less than half my attention, so focused on finding you that I forgot all about the job I had sworn to do. When those men threw you to the ground and my wolf stated clawing at me I almost lost myself. I never saw your face but my wolf knew the other half of my soul was there, laying on the ground, just out of full sight. When the men picked you up and hauled you inside I swore I would tear that place apart brick by brick to get you out. I swore then I would save you if I had to walk through fire to do it. Nicole, my heart knew you before I knew your name. My wolf claimed you before I saw your face. My soul screamed for you when you were merely a presence to be felt. What ever the future may hold, and where ever we may go I want you at my side for the rest of eternity. You would make me the happiest man who ever lived if you would do me the honor of becoming my wife. My soul would be complete if I have you and Chris and Sammy as my forever family. Say yes. Please?”
Sammy held the box out in front of her sister and Chris reached over and opened it to reveal a small opal surrounded by tiny emeralds. The closest he could find to the dream ring she had described to him one night. He knew the ex had given her a small traditional diamond ring so he knew this ring was as close to her fantasy, and as far from the past as he could get. He watched her face as she realized what he was doing. He saw the look of awe on her face as Chris opened the box. He lifted the ring from the box as he waited for her response. Tears of joy streaming down her face, with the biggest smile he had ever seen she whispered, “Yes, oh yes. Oh yes, yes yes yes.”
He placed the ring on her finger and leaned forward to kiss her lips. The first of many yet to come.
I would say the end… but you may already know…. Casey is next.
mybook.to/CaseySHW
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Author Notes
So many thanks to the readers who picked up this book and read it to the end. So many things have been happening in the SHW world and I don’t want to miss any of the characters. I know people want to know about Stormie’s baby and Gammon’s baby and what is happening with Trina. I ask my readers on my face book page and my team which story lines (which characters) they wanted to see more of and I try to tell a bit about each one as the books continue.
I love knowing what you, the reader, likes about the books and who YOU want to know more about. You can follow my face book page to be involved. You see, many times you pick up a book and you start a series and when you get through the book you may be wondering what happened to this character or that character. I am an avid reader and I have been through this. Normally the reader doesn’t find out, they can’t because the author doesn’t ask them what they want.
I want to know which characters you enjoyed the most. I want to know who you would like to know more about. One of my favorite authors once killed off a character in his book. I think it was book 9 of his series. The push back and cries from the fans was huge. He brought the character back later and even gave him a spin-off series. Now if I kill off a beloved character I can’t bring them back, they don’t have that kind of magic. But I also can’t flesh out a character if I don’t know you, the reader, wants more.
I had it suggested to me that Marcus should find a true-mate. In Trina we find he and Krys are not true-mates and that Krys knows what losing a true-mate feels like. I can’t take that suggestion. It would break my heart to take away Krys’ mate after she has already lost so much. So instead of making something like that happen I wrote the scene where Samson tells about the pain the 3 people would have if such a situation did happen. It would not be a joyous occasion for any of the 3 no matter how much love was involved.
You may notice Gammon didn’t make it back to his territory to find out how badly his Beta’s have been driving Mia crazy in the few days he was gone. Don’t worry though, that story-line will pick up in Casey and you will find out more about what exactly his Betas have been up to while he was gone. Hint: it is funny. (Not to Gammon, to me.) He was only gone from Wednesday to Saturday so how much trouble can they cause in four days?
Gammon took a few of the children home with him, including the little slave boy. Will they have to put down a character for being too damaged? Will they be able to save the little boy or will what he has been through cause him to go rogue when his wolf rises. And when exactly does the male wolf rise? That answer may surprise you. Will Krys get to keep the human baby? Will Marcus go for raising a human child? What game is William playing and what is going on with Senator Avery? Is he really innocent in everything that has happened? His oath would indicate he is, but how can that be?
And Casey— what is going on with her? If you saw the cover maybe you saw the little Eas
ter egg on the cover. What does it mean? And what changes will come about now that Dacron has found his brother and brought even more alien technology with him? Will the new technology be a game changer for the shifters or will the aliens and shifters part ways.
There were a couple of spots in the book that brought me to tears. You see, sometimes I know exactly what I am writing and where the book is going and sometimes I am just as surprised as everyone else. When Chris asks his sister to send him to his parents tears started in my eyes because I thought, well, I didn’t think anyone would get there in time. Can you imagine living your life knowing your choice cost your parent’s lives and then, just before getting rescued you save your siblings from a horrible fate just to get rescued after sending them to the other side? I got up from the computer and left the room refusing to have anything to do with the scene— three times. I even went for a drive to the store, and I live in the country so it is a bit of a drive. I wailed to a fellow author how horrible my characters were being. Then I did the time-line and went oh— this is the day they get rescued and started rooting (cheering for you Aussie readers) for the team to hurry. (I have friends in Australia and once asked them who they were rooting for to win a game and that is when I found out rooting has a different meaning there than in the States—oops.)
Amber comes after Casey, I already have the cover, and I have started to wonder when my family will take enough notice of my books to realize the books are peppered with their names.
As always please leave a review for the book so other people will want to grab them and I can keep writing them. If you find mistakes in the book that made it though the team please don’t hesitate to send me a message on the face book page or drop me a line at [email protected] so I can fix it.
Nicole Page 16